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Sentencing a juvenile to life without parole in non-murder cases violates the Constitution’s Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled.

The defendant in the case was 16 years old when he robbed a restaurant. He pleaded guilty, spent a year in jail and was given three years probation.

Within a year of being released he was arrested in connection with another armed robbery. At a probation hearing, his probation was revoked and he was sentenced to life without parole.

He sought post-sentencing relief, citing Roper v. Simmons (in which the Court held the death penalty for juveniles was unconstitutional) to argue that his sentence constituted cruel and unusual punishment.

The Florida Court of Appeal affirmed his sentence, noting that this was a non-capital case, and – in the words of Roper – “death is different.” The Florida Supreme Court denied review.

The Supreme Court agreed to hear the case, and reversed in a 6-3 opinion, holding that the sentence of life without parole for juveniles is so disproportionate to the severity of non-murder cases that it violates the Eighth Amendment.

“The Court has recognized that defendants who do not kill, intend to kill, or foresee that life will be taken are categorically less deserving of the most serious forms of punishment than are murderers,” wrote Justice Anthony Kennedy for the majority. “[I]t follows that, when compared to an adult murderer, a juvenile offender who did not kill or intend to kill has a twice diminished moral culpability. The age of the offender and the nature of the crime each bear on the analysis.”

Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented.

The same day this decision was released, the Court dismissed as improvidently granted a case raising the issue of whether a 13-year old sentenced to life without parole can make a constitutional challenge more than a decade later.

U.S. Supreme Court. Graham v. Florida, No. 08-7412. May 17, 2010. Lawyers USA No. 993-1902. You can link to the full text of this opinion by going to www.lawyersusaonline.com and searching the Lawyers USA website.

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